Babel

While having a basic grasp of each other's abilities was important, it could never make up for actual experience. Knowing this, Linnaeus came up with a variety of different formations and discussed the various ways in which they could deal with different types of enemies.Eliza's [Gravity Rule] was one of their most powerful assets but, as it required her to be stationary and could easily damage allies just as easily as enemies, it was necessary to come up with measures that covered for this weakness. They also couldn't just have her use [Crush] on every enemy they came across as, while this was certainly an option in many situations, it would heavily restrict the potential growth of everyone else in the Party.Fortunately, while they lacked the utility of a true Support class, Linnaeus' and Emilia's Blessings were extremely versatile. So long as he had the SP, Linnaeus could mitigate damage almost completely, not just for himself, but everyone in the Party. As for Emilia, she could disorient enemies and make it extremely difficult for them to fight back by obscuring their vision and blocking their airway, giving them an advantage against all by the fastest and most powerful foes.The only restrictive factor behind using their Blessings to great effect was, as was often the case, the limited SP a person had access to. Though this became less of an issue at higher levels, especially if you could get access to powerful equipment, it was going to be a big issue in a world where they were unable to increase their Level.This was where Linnaeus' previous mistake actually became a boon as, while his Health was almost comically low, his SP reserves and SP Regeneration were bordering on the extreme for his Level. It wasn't a match for Eliza's but, considering she was fifteen Levels higher than him, that was to be expected.So long as he was careful, Linnaeus could regenerate upwards of 220SP per minute, effectively allowing him to upkeep his [Barrier Aura] on their entire Party at all times. This allowed them to tide through most environmental hazards and made exposure a non-factor. At the same time, he was still able to develop his [Barrier] and [Barrier Aura] further so, while his Level would stagnate, he was able to continually strengthen his foundation without any discernible limits.This wasn't something that was exclusive to Linnaeus either so, while their ultimate goal was to reach the top of the Crucible of Souls, he discussed the topic of Skill, Ability, and Magic training as part of their familiarization with each other. Since they knew the requirements for certain Skills, they could help each other further strengthen their foundation and, by the time the returned to the Tower, their growth compared to their peers would potentially put them far ahead of the curve.While Eliza and Krone didn't benefit nearly as much from this, as they had already graduated from Fledgling status, Linnaeus and Emilia had a chance of earning various rewards if they were thrown back into the earlier Floors. Other Fledglings would be hard-pressed to compete against them and, while this would require them to split up, it was possible for their Party to regroup on the tenth and twentieth Floors.Krone didn't particularly show any interest in returning to the Tower but, with his arms crossed and a solemn expression, he stated he would help them leave. He personally felt that the Crucible of Souls was his just punishment and, even if he managed to earn the right to return, there didn't seem to be much of a reason to.By reaching the top of the Crucible of Souls, they would have had to overcome various challenges and, while he may not be the strongest, his position would be near the top of other wayward Souls. Since returning to the Tower only meant a return to an endless struggle, he would rather repent in the Crucible of Souls until he felt absolved from his past sins. In his opinion, it was better to be one of the strongest people in the Crucible than one of the weak struggling in an uphill battle against those who had already lived for hundreds of years.Linnaeus couldn't really argue with this logic as, prior to entering the Tower, he would have been content just to have enough power to protect himself in the outside. There didn't seem to be any limit to how strong people could become inside the Tower so, even if his foundation allowed him to compete against his peers, those that had ventured forward ahead of him would force him into a difficult position.Despite this, he wasn't even remotely deterred as, after learning that his sister was already inside the Tower, Linnaeus was determined to reunite with her and Saht. He would protect them both until they reached a point where they were either satisfied with their progress or, much like Rebecca, they were ready to leave the Tower. Then, they could build a life together and, with the power they gained for themselves, live relatively free of worries...---To prepare for their battle against one of the Kings, Linnaeus' Party spent the better part of a week hunting around the den to develop their coordination and stockpile a sizeable amount of supplies. For all they knew, the next Floor would be a desolate wasteland so, in order to avoid having to go without food, they had been salting and drying meat in bulk. This was to conserve SP as it was much cheaper to keep preserved goods than use additional SP to preserve them yourself.This week of training was also an opportunity for them to grow a little closer with each other and, while there were still a number of issues, predominately related to Krone, a status quo had been established within the Party after a few days. It was a little awkward, as Eliza and Emilia were far more friendly with him than they were with Krone but, as the man often kept to himself and focused on his own duties, this was just a matter of course.Linnaeus wasn't the most personable individual but, with Eliza and Emilia having strong personalities, he was basically forced to socialize with them. Since this was a way of building rapport with his Party, he did his best to answer most of their curiosities and, while he avoided asking about anything that could be considered sensitive information, he had come to learn more about them as well.Emilia was actually the granddaughter of her tribe's Matriarch so, while she was determined to climb the Tower, she didn't have much of an interest in trying to reach the top. Rather, enter the Tower was more of a right of passage for the Vanargandr than anything else and, after exiting, they would then be tasked with tracking down and establishing their own tribe. This was made possible due to the fact that, when you left the Tower, you apparently appeared in the same location as when you first entered.At this point, Emilia's tribe had been venturing into the endless expanse of wilderness for countless generations so, while they could still see the Tower in the distance, a testament to its size, it wasn't something they could ever reach the base of in a single lifetime. Thus, upon exiting the Tower, they would be thrown back out into the wilderness and, while encountering others was rare, it wasn't impossible to find other tribes.By entering the Tower and successfully exiting, Emilia would be considered for an Elder Huntress position that could easily see her become the Matriarch of her own tribe in the future. She only had to find another tribe of Vanargandr and, by presenting her Status, the Matriarch of that tribe would usually gift her with a few capable Huntresses and a number of suitable males to produce children with.Linnaeus found the social dynamic of the Vanargandr a little strange but, as it was just one among thousands of unique cultures, he didn't have much to say about it. The only thing that mattered was that Emilia was a capable Huntress and, with her Agility and enhanced senses, she had already replaced him as the Party's Scout.It turned out that, while she wasn't fond of fighting at the frontlines, Emilia took great pride in her tracking abilities and, after coming to trust Linnaeus, she no longer believed he would just send her into a dangerous situation. He was the type that seriously considered his next course of action and, if it came down to it, he would expose himself to danger before requiring others to do the same. This had earned him Emilia's respect and, with Eliza and Krone often giving her the cold shoulder, he was the only person she could really talk to when she was bored or lonely.Emilia ended up being quite the chatterbox when she wasn't hunting so, with his propensity to listen to what others had to say, Linnaeus often found himself at the mercy of her pestering. This was more than a little troublesome, as he didn't really know how to socialize with others that well, but Emilia didn't seem to mind his awkwardness as she was perfectly content with doing most of the talking.The only real problem with Emilia's chattery nature was that Eliza often grew annoyed with her when they had first started living together. She didn't like to be interrupted and, as Krone wasn't really the best company, having Emilia monopolize the only other interesting person to talk to had caused her to chide the young Vanargandr on several occasions.Fortunately, while this was something that Linnaeus had expected to evolve into serious issues later down the line, Emilia was surprisingly obedient when it came to Eliza. Since she was used to a power structure where the strongest female told the others what to do, she was predisposed to obey Eliza's words so long as it didn't force her into a compromising position.Eliza was bothered by this behavior, as she was trying to prop up Linnaeus as the Party Leader, but she quickly learned that Emilia wasn't going to change any time soon. Instead, she used this to her advantage and, whenever she wanted to talk with Linnaeus, she only had to send Emilia on an errand or ask that she remain silent so that she could speak. While this led to a few tense moments, at least for Linnaeus, things had reached a peculiar equilibrium by the time a week had passed.When she first began taking advantage of Emilia's nature, Eliza hadn't really minded it too much but, after seeing how Linnaeus reacted, she began to mellow out. Now, though she would often enter the conversation to give her own input, she didn't outright tell Emilia to remain silent. This led to the two girls interacting with each other more often and, as he didn't really have much to contribute to the conversation, this made things a lot easier for Linnaeus.At this point, the only contentious factor in the Party was Krone but, as he still followed orders, it was not something that needed to be directly addressed. Rather, as they continued to work together, it felt like Krone was slowly beginning to trust in his decisions as Party Leader.Krone's subtle changes made Linnaeus feel as though things were going well and, though he never dropped his guard around the man, it no longer felt like Krone was looking for an opportunity to dispose of him. While this could just be his way of luring him into a false sense of security, the fact that Eliza and Emilia were far more likely to side with him meant that Krone didn't have much leeway to sow discord within the Party. Thus, after a week had passed, Linnaeus felt that the Party was ready for its first real challenge...slaying a Territorial King.

Though there were easier targets among the various Territorial Kings, Linnaeus had decided to kill the closest thing to a Dragon that he could find. Part of him still recalled the moment when he was helpless to act immediately after entering the Seventh Floor so, in order to overcome this trauma, he was determined to strike down the closest thing to his mental demon as possible.Crouching on the edge of a rocky outcrop, Linnaeus stared at the entrance of a cavern that glowed with an eerie green light from its interior. There were the bones of various other monsters in the area as, when fighting amongst themselves, actual corpses were left behind.With a thoughtful yet focused gaze, Linnaeus continued to observe the entrance to the cavern as he reiterated his plan, stating, "The safest spot to attack from will be the flanks. You'll have to watch out for its tail, though, as I've seen it smash through trees as if they were twigs. Even this is better than trying to face it directly, however. It can spew out a phosphorescent chemical that can burn through the scales of other Territorial Kings...I'm confident my [Barrier Aura] can protect against it, but try to avoid getting hit directly..."Linnaeus turned his attention toward Krone when he spoke the final few words, earning a curt nod from the man who, upon learning what they would be facing, turned stoic and silent. He had a very determined look on his face and, rather than show any signs of fear, there was an expectant light flickering across his silvery irises.As they had already discussed the plan several times, Linnaeus didn't want to stress on the details too much as it would only unnerve everyone. Instead, he did his best to appear confident, pulling out shortsword and dagger as he said, "Let's do this...no mistakes..."Without waiting for a response, Linnaeus slid down the rocky slope before making his way toward the cavern's entrance, his [Stealth] active. At the same time, Emilia moved along the periphery, her ultimate goal the area just above the cavern's entrance. Her task would be blinding the Territorial King by coating its head in a veil of water. If she had the opportunity, she would then use her spear to try and stab any fleshy areas while Linnaeus, using his small stature and nimbleness, would try to sever the monster's tendons to reduce its mobility.Though they hadn't really practiced the execution of their plan, the average monster relied mostly on instinct when fighting. This made it easier to draw their attention and lure them into traps, a fact Linnaeus intended to take advantage of as, after reaching the entrance of the cavern, he dropped his [Stealth] and released his killing intent to the fullest.Almost immediately after an invisible ripple spread from his body, Linnaeus' hair was kicked up as a foul-smelling aroma impacted against him, accompanied by a shockwave and a fierce roar. It actually had enough force to knock him back a few centimeters, the hair on his arms and neck standing on end as a result.Despite his own [Danger Sense] screaming at him to flee, Linnaeus' expression hardened as he bent his knees slightly, distributing his balance between both feet. At the same time, the ground around him had already begun to rumble and, like a flash flood tearing apart the landscape, a large dragon-like creature with green scales and three layers of ridges running along its backside came sprinting toward him, its massive maw opening to reveal a dense line of teeth.Rather than evade outright, Linnaeus created a barrier in the shape of a diamond prism with two fine points on both ends. He placed it right in the path of the King's opened mouth, anchoring it with the use of 500SP to ensure it had an adequate amount of durability.To Linnaeus' surprise, the Territorial King didn't seem to notice the existence of his barrier. Instead, it continued moving with incredible momentum toward Linnaeus, the barrier piercing into the back of its mouth with surprising ease. It was unable to change course fast enough and, as a result, Linnaeus watched in awe as his barrier pierced through the back of the monster's head before it crashed to the ground a few moments later, completely lifeless...Without years of practice controlling his facial expression, Linnaeus was certain he would have looked like a fool right now. Fortunately, there were certain benefits to growing up in the slums so, while others may have stood with their mouth agape, he had a calm expression that bordered on apathy.As if to build up the illusion even further, Linnaeus dropped his combat stance before placing away his weapons and remarking, "It seems my Blessing is more suited to combat than I anticipated..." in a dismissive tone of voice.In response to his remark, Emilia jumped down from her perch, laughing all the while as she made her way over to his side. She gave him an approving pat on the back as she exclaimed, "You're a real beast, Lin! To think, I was actually nervous just a few moments ago, ahahahahaha~!"With his [Barrier Aura] active, Emilia's strike against his back only caused a few pulses across his body without knocking him off balance. This allowed Linnaeus to easily stay upright, despite the fact she had put a bit of force into the congratulatory gesture.After shrugging his shoulders in a dismissive manner, Linnaeus made his way over to the spoils as Krone and Eliza made their way over. The former had a stern and hard to read expression on his face while Eliza had a cheerful smile as she skipped over to his side and said, "That was awesome, Lin! You really showed that so-called King what for~!"Linnaeus gave a small smile in response to Eliza's praise before handing her a few neat pieces of hide, saying, "We can probably make this into protective gear. Do you want me to preserve some of the organs it dropped? If I remember correctly, some of them should be useful in the production of medicines..."Eliza bobbed her head in response, pointing toward what looked like a gallbladder as she said, "I'll need to conduct some tests but it should be possible to make a medicine to reduce pain and treat internal hemorrhages with its gallbladder. It is hard to be certain but I'll be able to figure it out after taking a few samples."As internal bleeding was a serious status effect, it was always helpful to have a medicine that could help alleviate it. They already had a few medicines with hemostatic properties so having the option of treating both would be very useful. After all, other than cleaning wounds, Emilia's Blessing was not currently suitable for healing injuries. There was a chance she would reach that point after obtaining Level 100, as Blessing underwent an evolution of sorts at that point, but that was currently a very distant goal...After gathering all the drop items and distributing them between his and Eliza's Inventory, Linnaeus turned to face his Party as he said, "My Blessing seems to be effective against monsters with a large size and soft internals. Making use of a choke point and sending monsters into a frenzy will be one of our strategies in the future. For now, we'll migrate to the territory of another King in order to build up more experience as a Party. Until I get a proper grasp of the timing, this should be considered a fluke, not an indicator of actual skill."Rather than refute his words, Eliza gave an affirmative nod, adding, "It is good that you aren't letting a single instance of success go to your head. I've seen a lot of people get cocky after taking down a few stupid monsters. The real test will be against monsters with intelligence. You'll also have to adapt your Blessing so that it is useful against other people. Against someone that doesn't move around a lot, you won't be able to use their own speed and momentum against them."Eliza had been the one to originally suggest using his barriers as anchored projectiles so Linnaeus was very attentive to her input. He nodded his head in understanding when she had finished, saying, "I will continue to improve. Thank you for your guidance..."Hearing Linnaeus' response, Eliza nodded her head approvingly before startling him with a sudden hug. This caused Linnaeus to tense up like a statue, resulting in Eliza laughing as she released him and said, "You work hard so it is only a matter of time until you become truly strong. Until then, I'm happy to help as much as I can."Linnaeus was at a loss as to how he should respond so, after a momentary pause, he just gave a small nod before uttering a subdued, "Thanks..." He really didn't know how to deal with someone like Eliza as she seemed determined to break down his mental defenses. This actually made him feel even more suspicious of her but, as she could easily kill him just by bringing her hands together, it was difficult to rationalize what her actual aim might be...So as not to force Linnaeus into a more difficult position, Eliza gave him a bit of space before saying, "Well, you heard our Party Leader. We'll be moving on to the next area so the two of you should get ready. Linnaeus and I can't be the ones killing all the monsters so you'll have to show a bit of spirit in the next battle."While Krone was just standing in silence, Emilia pumped up her fist in response to Eliza's words, an excited smile on her face as she shouted, "Yosh! Leave it to me! Just you wait and see, Liz. I'll ride on the back of a King and suffocate it with my water, ahahahahaha~"Hearing Emilia call her 'Liz', Eliza gave her a sidelong glare before ultimately letting the address pass. Since she already allowed the three of them to call her by Eliza, which was short for Elizabeth, it was a little annoying to hear someone come up with a pet name for her. However, as it was pretty close to Lin, she didn't mind it as much as she otherwise would have...After calming himself adequately, Linnaeus sent Emilia ahead to scout, allowing her to lead the way as he taught Krone and Eliza how to properly track a person. This helped him to focus his own mind and, as it was a very useful skill that everyone could benefit from, he was hoping to at least get them to the point where they didn't make a ton of noise while traveling.Proper tracking also included making yourself harder to track so, as they became more adept at following the trail left behind by Emilia, they were slowly becoming better at moving through the forest. This had the effect of increasing their speed through the underbrush as well so, while they still had a long way to go, Eliza and Krone were learning to traverse the forest much faster than a week prior.With this enhanced speed, it only took them around twenty minutes to reach the territorial line of the next King. There, Emilia was already waiting for them, a strip of dried jerky in her hand that she was able to easily tear through with her pearly white teeth. It actually amazed Linnaeus to see how easily she tore through the tough meat as, without wetting and chewing on it excessively, it was hard for himself and the others to ingest.Once the Party had regrouped, Emilia took it upon herself to say, "This is that big horse monster with the two horns, right? I want to try and fight this one on my own...is that okay, Lin?"As his own enemy had gone down a lot easier than expected, Linnaeus felt that it wasn't wrong for Emilia to be a little hyped up for her own battle. However, he didn't outright agree, saying, "I'll allow it, so long as you still make use of my [Barrier Aura]. Though it wouldn't be good to become reliant on it, you should still get used to exploiting it to your advantage when the situation allows."With a confident smile on her face, Emilia thumped her own chest, sending a blue rippled across her body as she exclaimed, "Sure thing! Yosh, I'm getting super excited now...!"

While Status was extremely important, it wasn't the deciding factor when it came to obtaining victory or suffering defeat. This was something Linnaeus had learned long ago and, if simply having higher attributes guaranteed victory, he would have died when he turned ten years old.More than raw attributes, it was knowledge, experience, and willpower that ultimately determined whether or not a person could break through their limits and secure victory. So long as you had a proper understanding of your capabilities, those of your opponent, and the resolve to do whatever it took to overcome adversity, there was nothing that could stand in your way.With this in mind, Linnaeus decided that the first thing his nascent Party would do was familiarize themselves with each other's capabilities. He needed to know what every member of the Pary was capable of as, when it came to proper decision making, this could be the difference between life and death for the entire team.After a relatively tense night, Linnaeus showed the group to a plateau a few kilometers away from the den as they already had plenty of supplies stocked up for a few days.Upon reaching their destination, Linnaeus turned to the group and explained, "In order to increase our chances of reaching the top of the Crucible, I'll need to understand just where each of us stands. For the time being, it seems like it is impossible to increase our base Level so we'll need to exercise proper judgment if we want to avoid losing our lives a second time."Krone immediately frowned when he heard Linnaeus' words, crossing his arms as he asked, "So you want us to reveal all our secrets and techniques to each other...?"Hearing the hostile undertones in Krone's voice, Linnaeus gave him a deadpan stare as he plainly stated, "We will be fighting to protect each other's lives from this moment onward. What sense is there in keeping secrets when we're supposed to trust our backs to each other? Sharing knowledge amongst ourselves will increase the overall capabilities of the entire Party. Tell me, Krone, what sense is there in being secretive when we've all already died once...?"Before Krone could think of a retort, Eliza nodded her head, adopting a far icier expression as she added in a cold tone, "Lin is right. We have already lost everything once. From the perspective of the rest of the world, we no longer even exist. By the time we reach the top of the Crucible, who knows what kind of challenges we'll have faced? The time for keeping secrets ended when we died the first time. If you keep thinking like you have something to lose after you've already died, you are just a liability to those of us who seek to make the most of the present."While Krone could refute Linnaeus' words, he was predisposed to obey Eliza's so, after hearing what she said, he ultimately chose to remain silent. As for Emilia, she hailed from a tribe that freely shared everything from food to knowledge so she didn't even question the veracity of Linnaeus' words.Without further argument, Linnaeus set the example by demonstrating his Blessing and explaining his fighting style. He showed them that he could create both static and dynamic barriers and, much like how he had been open to Emilia's input the prior day, he asked them to be frank if they thought there were any ways in which he could improve.Emilia wasn't shy when it came to stating her opinion so she immediately asked, "Do you think you could make something like a mechanical crossbow or a pile bunker? Your barriers work a lot like an ability I'm familiar with called [Hardlight Projection]. The person I knew was able to make things like traps and other complex objects to make hunting a lot easier."Linnaeus knew it wouldn't be impossible for him to do what Emilia hinted at but, as complex shapes took up a considerable amount of SP, he knew it would take him a long time to reach that point. He also had no idea how crossbows and pile-bunkers were structured and, as Emilia had no idea how they worked, he could only shelve the matter until later.Fortunately, while Emilia's complex idea was beyond him, Eliza brought Linnaeus to a stunned silence by asking, "How small can you make your barriers? If you can make them small and dense, couldn't you use them like projectiles by just placing them in the trajectory of your opponent? Even if that doesn't work, you could always make a very thin and sharp barrier like a platform, exploiting your opponent's speed against them. Unless they are able to change direction very quickly, it would be like running directly into a sword or spear, right?"Since he often used his [Barrier] to make daggers and pointed rods for stabbing, Linnaeus knew that Eliza's suggestion was more than possible. In fact, he had experimented with something similar in the past and, though it took a lot of mental focus, he could even make barriers as small as a grain of sand. These were very fragile but, if used properly, he could easily blind his opponent if they weren't paying close attention.After deciding to practice making static hazards in the future, Linnaeus moved to the side so that Emilia could demonstrate her abilities next. She was very excited after seeing his display so, without any hesitation at all, she began performing a rather strange martial art that often required her to crouch down on all fours.As could be seen from their initial encounter, Emilia specialized in using a spear and, while she did not have the [Throwing] Skill, she could easily pin a target from several tens of meters with very high accuracy. Linnaeus felt it was strange that more people didn't have the [Throwing] Skill but, after a bit of discussion, he learned that most Skills were obtained because the person was intent on trying to develop them, not by accident.While Emilia's skill with the spear was impressive, especially with her incredible Agility, it was the versatility of her Blessing that caused Linnaeus to turn contemplative.Rather than simply produce water, Emilia was able to change the state of water into four different states, albeit with the final state being beyond her current capabilities. This meant she could turn the water flowing around her spear into steam or ice in an instant, creating small explosions that could easily burn skin or instantaneously freezing parts of her opponent and drastically decreasing their mobility.What was truly terrifying about Emilia's Blessing was that she could manipulate external water as well, so long as it was natural. This allowed her to swing her spear around, gathering water from the air and, while it cost a considerable amount of SP to do so, she could even influence the water that comprised the majority of a person's body. Though this only allowed her to momentarily stun an opponent, it was an incredible ability that had infinite potential so long as her SP reserves held out.The only thing that prevented Emilia's Blessing from being peerless was the fact that she had to directly stab her spear into her opponent to manipulate their internal water and, depending on theirWisdom and Spirit, people could resist her attempts to restrain them. This exponentially increased the amount of SP required to immobilize them but, just knowing she could stun them temporarily was a tremendous boon...After finishing her demonstration, Emilia followed Linnaeus' example, smiling radiantly as she asked, "So, any advice? Come on, don't be shy. Even if you're harsh, I can take it~!"Since he had been somewhat focused on how to use his own Blessing, Linnaeus was momentary at a loss as to how to answer Emilia's question but, without missing a beat, Eliza stated, "Rather than just focus water around your spear, you should learn how to gather it around your target directly. Even if it is a strong monster, they would struggle to fight at their full potential if you could wrap a bubble of water around their head. Since you can change the temperature, you could always boil them alive or try and suffocate them outright. You could also send your water inside their body and, instead of manipulating the minute amount in their cells, you can just make your own explode into a burst of steam after they inhale it."Though Eliza gave the impression of a shy and demure woman, Linnaeus was quickly learning that she wasn't the defenseless and lonely girl he originally thought her to be. In fact, now that she was no longer alone, she seemed to become increasingly confident and, as a result of her education and the rather ruthless political climate between the Eight Families, she was no ignorant when it came to violence.Despite being somewhat unnerved by Eliza's 'decisive' mentality, Linnaeus' expression was placid and calm. He might not be as creative as she was but, after killing over a thousand people alongside Saht, there wasn't much that could actually shake him. This was not the case for Emilia and Krone, however, as they had both paled slightly after hearing how nonchalantly the Evendoom princess talked about exploding a person from the inside.Having already decided to live how she wanted this time around, Eliza didn't try to put up a pretense and, while it did make her a little anxious to see the judgment in Emilia's and Krone's gazes, she was content with the fact that Linnaeus seemed unperturbed. Rather, instead of showing fear, he had a thoughtful look in his eyes, almost as if was thinking about other ways in which Emilia could use her Blessing to devastating effect...With Emilia having a few ideas about how she could improve, Krone was the next to demonstrate his capabilities. He started off by crouching low to the stone and, after a few seconds passed, his entire body had taken on the appearance of smooth granite. This actually increased some of his attributes while, as could be expected, others were reduced slightly.Due to absorbing the traits of granite, Krone's Strength and Constitution had gone up by eight and eleven points respectively. In exchange, his Agility decreased by a whopping twenty points, making him even slower than usual.To compensate for his reduced Agility, Krone did something that had caught Linnaeus by surprise as, after closing his eyes for nearly a full minute, parts of Krone's body began to turn translucent. When he opened his eyes, his Agility had increased considerably and, after throwing a few punches, it was clear what trait he had absorbed by the wind pressure kicked up by his strikes.Just as he could change his body into an element like water, Krone could adapt the traits of wind to significantly reduce his weight and increase his Agility. Though this reduced his Constitution by a great deal, he could project the wind compressed within his body outward, creating a strong gust that had enough force to knock people backward.Unable to restrain his curiosity, Linnaeus asked, "Can you turn your entire body into wind...?" If that was the case, he couldn't see how Krone would ever be able to lose a fight.Hearing Linnaeus' question, Krone snorted through his nose before answering, "Turning into a pure element takes a lot of time and focus. If I change completely, even thinking becomes difficult and, if I'm not careful, my body will just spread outward instead of sticking together. When my body begins to dissipate, my Health drops rapidly. Past users who tried to overcome this restriction usually ended up losing their lives..."Linnaeus restrained a sigh when he heard Krone's explanation but, if his Blessing really had no limits, there really would be no way of stopping him. After all, how would you be able to fight a living mass of air that could infinitely just pull itself back together? What was to stop Krone from just ripping the body of a person apart after they breathed him in?Fortunately, even if his body turned completely invisible, Krone still had to keep his form as he would quickly lose Health by trying to change shape. It also caused him an extreme amount of pain, despite him having no observable nerves and a seemingly intangible form. This was one of the reasons why he had LV54 [Pain Tolerance] as, if he was caught up in a strong current or pulled along by powerful winds, it would feel like he was constantly being torn apart.Krone had been hesitant to reveal this fact but, after building up a fair amount of tension due to his past actions, he wanted to even things out by essentially revealing his biggest weakness. He didn't want Linnaeus thinking that he was some amorphous entity that could squeeze through gaps and perform impossible feats so, in order to prevent future misunderstands, he decided to be a make it very clear that he wasn't without limitations.Linneaus knew Krone was trying to earn some good faith so, while he didn't even remotely humor the idea that the man had turned over a new leaf, he still respected his willingness to reveal such an important detail. Though there was a chance he was embellishing the facts, it would be too easy to ascertain whether or not he was lying the first time they encountered a strong enemy. Since Eliza's Blessing was essentially the ultimate counter to his, it would be very foolish of him to try and pull anything at this stage.Just as before, everyone tried giving Krone advice on how he could better use his Blessing before, completing the set, Eliza gave a demonstration of her own capabilities. This included reducing the weight of everyone present, allowing them to leap high into the sky with considerable ease, and using her [Crush] Magic to completely flatten a few large boulders. Though some of them had been able to hold up relatively well against the increased gravitational forces, Eliza had a way to make the field rapidly change in intensity, essentially vibrating an object apart in an extremely violent and destructive manner...As could be expected, Eliza was inarguably the strongest person in their Party.

Chapter 50: Familiarization